Sessions
2021

Clarissa Rayward is known as ‘The Happy Family Lawyer’ as she specialises in helping couples stay out of Court and work together to reach a resolution to their relationship breakdown. A practising family lawyer, she is the Director of the Brisbane Family Law Centre, a multidisciplinary practice where lawyers work alongside counsellors and financial planners to ensure that clients receive the holistic support they need.

Clarissa is the author of the successful ‘Happy Family Lawyer’ blog, providing weekly commentary and tips
on issues relating to life, love, relationships and divorce. She is also the Author of the book, ‘Splitsville – How to separate, stay out of Court and stay friends.’

In 2016 Clarissa launched her new venture ‘Happy Lawyer, Happy Life’ in response to the growing number
of lawyers and other professionals reaching out to her looking for ways of finding ‘Happiness’ in their careers. Clarissa’s podcast and book both titled ‘Happy Lawyer, Happy Life’ offer insights and resources for legal professionals seeking fulfilling careers and happiness both in law and in life.

Following many years of work as what she calls an ‘accidental wellness advocate’ in law, Clarissa was
recognised as the 2019 Lawyers Weekly Australian Law Awards Wellness Advocate of the Year. Over the past
4+ years, lawyers both nationally and internationally have jumped aboard her ‘happiness project’ by listening to the podcast, reading the book, participating in the 7 day happiness challenge or 8 week online course, talking with friends and colleagues and perhaps most importantly, asking the question- how can I be a happier lawyer?

Clarissa is deeply proud to have contributed to furthering the conversation about wellness in law but we know there is still a whole lot of #lawlandbedazzling to be done!

Lochlan is a Brisbane based early career lawyer practising in commercial litigation and dispute resolution at Moulis Legal. Prior to commencing his Bachelor of Laws with Bond University, Lochlan worked in the legal recruitment industry where he specialised in the placement of paralegals and lawyers up to 5 years PAE.

With his experience of working in and recruiting for the legal industry, Lochlan is passionate about assisting early career lawyers by sharing his personal experiences in developing a network and building relationships from the very beginning, as well as raising awareness of alternative career pathways in non-traditional law firms.

Cassandra is a Regulation Legal Manager in Sports & Entertainment in Saudi Arabia.

Prior to her move in May 2019, she was a Senior Associate in Sports, Insurance & Corporate Risk at MinterEllison. Her practice areas saw her acting in commercial matters with work worldwide sporting organisations, corporations and sponsors and in player disputes on behalf of Clubs and governing bodies.

Cassandra is a sought after keynote speaker, travelling worldwide to present on sports and corporate risk issues and is a frequent commentator on matters affecting women in sport and women in the legal profession.

She was the President of Women Lawyers Association of Qld from 2016 to 2018, previously held directorships at Surfrider Foundation and Squash Australia; and was an Advisory Board Member for Brisbane Heat.

Cassandra is the Founder of The Prominenti Society; a speaker platform featuring only female speakers worldwide.

In 2017, Cassandra was named in the Top 20 under 40 in Queensland Business Monthly. She has been named in the 2015 and 2017 Who's Who List of Australian Women.

Daljit runs his own consultancy – Transforming Talent Pty, that helps professional service firms optimise individual and team performance, with a strong focus on helping teams accelerate collaboration to achieve their goals. He is a teaching fellow for The College of Law, teaching Workforce of the Future as part of the Master of Legal Business program.

Daljit has 35 years of experience working in professional services firms, including KPMG and Baker McKenzie. His roles with KPMG included Director of Professional Development and General Manager of Human Resources, and his roles with Baker McKenzie included Director of Talent Management and Director of Leadership Development.

Daljit has extensive experience with many strategic aspects of Talent Management including talent reviews, identifying talent gaps, succession planning, developing high potentials, high performance teaming and collaboration, diversity and inclusion, and partner selection. He was also responsible for the development and implementation of global partner development programs at Baker McKenzie.

Daljit holds three Masters degrees – in Economics, in Education, and an MBA (Human Resources stream). He is an experienced facilitator having run many programs and workshops for participants at Baker McKenzie ranging from Mid-Level Associates to Managing Partners. He was a Judge of the Australian HR Awards from 2008-2015.

In 2011, Emma was on the traditional corporate law path. She had an office job in a boutique firm on the North Shore of Sydney. However, a near-death experience changed Emma’s life and her views on work/life balance. At 13 weeks’ pregnant, Emma was given a common anti-nausea drug to help with morning sickness. What followed was Emma’s heart stopping as the result of sudden cardiac arrest. Emma was resuscitated with a defibrillator on the floor of the ER in the hospital where she had presented with morning sickness. Miraculously, Emma and her baby boy both survived the ordeal but Emma was left with the belief that life is too short and precious not to make the most of it. As a result, Emma and her young family moved from Sydney to far Northern NSW in late 2013. After the sea change, Emma worked remotely at partner level in a NewLaw firm for a number of years before starting “The Remote Expert” in early 2019 to assist others to gain that work/life balance Emma has created for herself. Emma works with clients to help them set up remotely or work differently.

Author and neuropsychologist, Dr Hannah Korrel has spent over a decade becoming an expert in why the brain makes us do the things we do. As a fierce mental health advocate, Hannah brings neurology and psychology together to explain common life dilemmas. Hannah is both a clinical neuropsychologist and a registered psychologist. She completed her university training and PhD in neuropsychology at the University of Melbourne. She has worked in hospitals around Australia, including the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, neurology wards of Ballarat Base Hospital, spinal injury wards of Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane, and now heads up the neuropsychology services at the psychiatric department of Northern Beaches Hospital. She also runs a neuropsychology practice in Cremorne where she has helped countless families to better understand the impact of neuroscience on their mental health.

Catherine Stokes is Executive Director of the College of Law Western Australia. Catherine holds a Bachelor of Laws with Honours and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Western Australia. She has experience as a lawyer in private practice and in government legal practice, in Perth and in London. She is an experienced legal educator and Mental Health First Aid Instructor. Catherine was a Finalist in the 2019 Lawyers Weekly National Women in Law Awards for Wellness Advocate of the Year.

Susan Pincus, National Careers Professional with The College of Law is a dedicated and passionate careers practitioner assisting law graduates build their employability and professional profiles as they transition into legal careers. She draws off her extensive background in human resources and recruitment working across a range of diverse industry sectors including consulting, higher education, FMCG, research and development, manufacturing, and agribusiness.

Amber Williams is the Chief Executive Officer of Resolution Institute a role she commenced in November 2019. Resolution Institute is the peak membership and training organisation of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) practitioners in the Asia Pacific. In her role Amber works with the Board in setting and delivering the strategic direction of Resolution Institute to ensure the future success of the organisation, and to work in the interests of members to grow services and expand the profile of Resolution Institute and dispute resolution within the community.

Amber is a strategic leader with a diverse background in both the private and public sectors. Prior to Resolution Institute, Amber was the inaugural CEO of the New South Wales Law Enforcement Conduct Commission, the body responsible for oversight and investigation into Police misconduct and corruption, and the Chief Human Resources Officer for the New South Wales Department of Justice. She has also worked for Australian Hearing, Coca Cola Amatil and Campbell Arnott’s.

In addition to her qualifications in human resource management, industrial relations and psychology, Amber is a certified member of the Australian Human Resources Institute and a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Russell Thirgood is an independent international arbitrator based in Brisbane, with an office in London and Washington DC. He is a full member of Int-Arb Arbitrators & Mediators after previously spending 23 years at McCullough Robertson Lawyers where he was a senior construction law partner and head of arbitration.

As arbitrator, he takes a modern and robust approach throughout the arbitration process. He is responsive to the needs of parties and their counsel to ensure that the proceedings are conducted swiftly, efficiently and effectively. He is considered, collaborative and concise.

Russell is experienced in resolving complex and high value construction and infrastructure, energy and natural resources and commercial disputes. He has conducted cases throughout Australia, Asia, US, UK, Middle East, Africa and Europe under some of the key international and domestic institutional arbitral rules.

Russell is a NMAS Accredited Mediator and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Fellow of the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration and Fellow of Resolution Institute.

He is the Current Chair of Resolution Institute, and has recently been named as 2021 Best Lawyers – International Arbitration Lawyer of the Year: Brisbane.

Wenee is a law lecturer, legal startup founder, company director and senior marketer in legal services and legal technology. Co-author of Social Media Marketing and Law: Fans, Followers and Online Infamy (Thomson Reuters), she founded Survive Law, which has since grown into Australia’s largest online community of law students. Named Lawyers Weekly Innovator of the Year Finalist, she has consulted for McCarthyFinch, LegalVision, led the global marketing team at LEAP and headed up growth marketing at ASX-listed tech company, thedocyard.

Linda Kochanski Practice Leader for Dispute Resolution Programs, The College of Law Linda was awarded Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner (‘FDRP’) of the Year and Alternative Dispute Resolution (‘ADR’) Academic of the Year (2018) and has worked in mediation for nearly 30 years.

Sam Burrett works at the intersection of three passions: law, business and technology.

Currently, Sam helps build and manage relationships with key clients at a top-tier Australian law firm.

Sam is also an active member of the legal industry. He is working on a distinguished fellowship in legal technology at the Centre for Legal Innovation, hosts a top Australian legal industry podcast, The Leading Lawyer Project, and is a board member at a Community Legal Centre, Youth Law Australia.

Previously, Sam helped solve problems for Australian general counsel at leading NewLaw firm Plexus, and kickstarted his interest in the future of law as a graduate at LegalVision, APAC’s fastest-growing law firm.

Eresha is a corporate and commercial lawyer with over 15 years of local and international experience, with particular expertise in private and public mergers and acquisitions and capital raisings. More recently, she has completed a secondment as the General Counsel of a large multinational pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical company.

Eresha advises on private treaty acquisitions and disposals, public company takeovers and schemes of arrangement, IPOs and fundraising, corporate structuring, capital management, shareholder arrangements, foreign investment, general commercial contractual arrangements, corporate governance and compliance with the Corporations Act and ASX Listing Rules.

Eresha acts for a range of clients, including ASX-listed companies and international conglomerates, as well as start-ups across an expansive range of sectors—such as biomedical, pharmaceutical, healthcare, mining and commodities, hospitality, financial services, engineering, construction, banking, IT, retail, telecommunications and FMCG.

Like most lawyers, Lucy’s career in law started the traditional way: as a law clerk. She quickly discoveredthat her skills and passion lay not just in the practice of law, but in the business of law too. From earlyon in her career, she developed her skills in various roles including lawyer, service designer, teamleader, HR manager, business analyst, practice manager and marketing manager.

Today, she is known as a leader in legal innovation. While so many people focus on the ‘what’ and the‘why’, Lucy’s approach focuses on action. She is all about the ‘how’, and is just as interested in coming upwith ideas as she is seeing them brought to life.

Lucy is the author of Amazon #1 best seller, It's Time To Do Law Differently: How To Reshape Your Firm and Regain Your Life, a regular keynote speaker and host of the Top 10 Doing Law Differently Podcast.

In 2020, Lucy was recognised by The Law Society of Western Australia as the Lawyer of the Year for hercontribution to the legal profession, helping law firm owners and operators reshape their firms to keeppace with the changing economy.

Lucy is a Senior Associate at Birman & Ride where she brings together people, process and technologyto reshape the provision of legal services, constantly challenging the way things are done to see if theycan be improved.

She is also the co-host of the successful podcast The Juggle, where she explores topics to career womenhave a satisfying career and a fulfilling family life.

Lucy holds a Bachelor of Law (Hons) and Bachelor of Arts (Communications) from the University ofWestern Australia, and a Certificate in Human Centred Service Design from IDEO University.

Lucy lives in Perth, Western Australia with her high school sweetheart, now husband, Jack and their twoyoung children.